This invention relates to artificial shrubbery and more particularly to means for giving said shrubbery a fuller and more plesing appearance.
Artificial shrubbery and particularly artifical trees have recently gained in popularity and are now increasingly used for indoor and outdoor decoration. Such trees are often made of fireproof materials which make them especially desirable for use as indoor Christmas trees.
One such artificial tree comprising limbs of twisted wire and bristle is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,594,260 which issued to the present applicant and is entitled "Artificial Shrubbery and Method of Manufacturing the Same." One embodiment of the artificial tree construction of this patent utilizes a central trunk and a plurality of limb assemblies circumferentially arranged about the trunk. Each of the limb assemblies includes a main limb of twisted wire and bristle having a hooked end which is free of bristle and a number of smaller cross branches of twisted wire and bristle which extend outwardly in a substantially transverse direction from the main limb. The hooked ends of the limb assemblies extend through apertures in a holder which is circumferentially mounted about the central trunk at a point near the top. The limb assemblies hang downwardly from the holder and outwardly at an angle from the trunk to form a truncated conical configuration which provides the appearance of a well-shaped natural tree. In this type artificial tree construction, no branches are attached to the tree trunk within the truncated conical region defined by the limb assemblies. Artificial trees of this type include relatively few separate parts and can therefore be quickly and easily assembled to provide a completed tree. Such trees can also be easily disassembled for convenient storage.
In order to make artificial trees of this type commercially acceptable, they must appear thick and full. As in nature such a thick, full appearance can be achieved by the use of more branches. For this purpose additional branch assemblies can be provided but adding more branch assemblies to the tree makes the tree more difficult to assemble and disassemble and less easy to store. If more branches are added to each assembly, the tree will appear fuller but the individual branch assemblies will become undesirably heavy and bulky. The addition of more branches and/or branch assemblies will also increase the cost of the completed tree.